The Rutgers University football team held its first practice of the preseason, with hopes to improve over last year.

The team only had one win in the 2018 season.

The team says that the first stop to making improvement going forward is with the quarterback position.

“Just look at the stats, that’s all you’ve got to look at. One [win] and 11 [losses], can’t happen. So that’s the most motivating factor for me,” says quarterback Art Sitkowski.

The sophomore says that he is trying to keep this starting spot on the team. The Old Bridge native threw more than 1,100 yards, four touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 11 games his freshman year.

“We've got to improve on everything. Coach [John] McNulty sat me down and gave me a whole bunch of things to work on and I went to work and I'm trying to improve those things every single day,” Sitkowski says.

But Sitkowski may have some competition this season from McClane Carter, who joins the team from Texas Tech. Carter is 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 225 pounds, and says he is already comfortable with the team’s playbook.

“I feel like I progressed really well and there's a lot of time here to make even more jumps and stuff…I'm happy to see where I am with it and I'm happy to see where I go with it,” Carter says.

Head coach Chris Ash says that Sitkowski will still be the starter for now, but he says that he will evaluate the quarterbacks throughout training camp.

“There a lot of things but mostly protecting the football and being consistent and can be a leader for the offense,” Ash says.

Rutgers football’s season opener is Friday, Aug. 30 at 7:15 p.m.